Acceptance of Risk and Confidence Assessing Avalanche Terrain and Conditions: A Large Cross-Sectional Study

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Risk Management
• Outdoor Recreation

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic increased backcountry use, raising safety concerns.
• Understanding risk-taking behavior in the backcountry is crucial for safety.
• Assessing avalanche terrain hazards is a key skill for backcountry users.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify risk propensity and hazard assessment ability in backcountry skiers.
• To explore correlations between risk propensity, self-assessed ability, avalanche training, and experience.
• To identify factors influencing risk-taking behavior in the backcountry.

Main Methods:

• Anonymous online survey of 4792 backcountry skiers and snowboarders in the US and Canada.
• Analysis of correlations between risk propensity, hazard assessment confidence, avalanche training, experience, and days of skiing.
• Utilized Pearson correlation coefficients and multivariable linear regression models.

Main Results:

• Positive correlation found between hazard assessment confidence and risk propensity, training, experience, and skiing frequency.
• Females reported lower risk willingness and self-assessed ability compared to males.
• Over 30% of skiers without Level 1 avalanche training were confident in assessing complex terrain.

Conclusions:

• Avalanche education needs to align perceived abilities with actual skills to mitigate overconfidence.
• Formal avalanche education is positively associated with risk propensity and hazard assessment confidence.
• High confidence levels among undertrained skiers pose a significant safety risk.